Financial and economic management of the Russian Orthodox Church. Report of the chairman of the financial and economic department of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Mark of Ryazan and Mikhailovsky
MOSCOW, Sep 29 - RIA News. The head of the Department for External Church Relations (DECR) of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, compared the possible renaming of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to “Russian Church in Ukraine” with the actions of the Nazis in Nazi Germany.
"The Ukrainian authorities want to completely seize the Ukrainian church, outlaw it, and various bills are being created for this. For example, there is such a bill that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church should be renamed the" Russian Church in Ukraine, "Metropolitan Hilarion said Saturday on the air of the program "Church and Peace" on the TV channel "Russia 24".
However, he noted, the UOC is not a Russian church, but a Ukrainian one, because "the believers of this church consider themselves Ukrainians, they are patriots of their country."
“And besides, renaming the church right now, when the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is in an acute stage, renaming it the Russian church is the same as assigning a yellow six-pointed star to Jews in Nazi Germany. That is, it means marking the church as an enemy organization, and it was for this purpose that the bill was created, "said the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Earlier, the Holy Synod of the UOC called on the Verkhovna Rada to reject the adoption of bills that are being considered in parliament and related to the activities of the UOC, as they "are aimed at the legal liquidation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church through its raider seizure by changing the name, unlawful interference in governing bodies and seizing property (shrines, temples and monasteries). "
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko is trying to achieve recognition of non-canonical religious structures and the creation of a single local autocephalous church in Ukraine. Earlier, the Patriarchate of Constantinople "in preparation for the provision of autocephaly" appointed its exarchs in Kiev. In addition, the Patriarch of Bartholomew of Constantinople announced that he intends to grant Ukraine autocephaly. The UOC called such actions an invasion of the canonical territory of another local church and called on Patriarch Bartholomew to stop his intervention, and the "exarchs" of the Patriarchate of Constantinople to leave Kiev.
The Russian Orthodox Church, in turn, went on the actual "severance of diplomatic relations" with the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Synod of the Russian Church announced the cessation of the commemoration of Patriarch Bartholomew during the patriarchal services. In addition, it was decided to withdraw from the structures in which the representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople preside. The relations of the Russian Orthodox Church with Constantinople found themselves in such a crisis only once in its entire history of more than a thousand years.
The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and the Holy Synod of the UOC have suspended service with the hierarchs of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
The act that preceded the creation of the Economic Administration of the Moscow Patriarchate was the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, signed in 1945 by Stalin, which granted the Moscow Patriarchate, diocesan administrations, monasteries and aisles legal rights to “purchase vehicles, manufacture church utensils, sell to believers, rent, build and purchase of ownership of houses for church needs ... The same Decree allowed bell ringing and planned supply of church communities from us state the necessary building blocks. "
On June 20, 1946, by a decision of the Holy Synod, the Regulation on the Economic Administration of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church was adopted.
One of the main tasks of the Economic Administration, in addition to monitoring the financial activities of the Church, was the creation of an enterprise that would produce products necessary for church life: candles, vestments, church items, and so on. In addition to organizing the work of Production Workshops, the competence of the KhUZU included issues of construction and restoration of Patriarchal residences, monasteries and temples.
Revived by the definition of the Holy Synod of March 31, 2009. Archimandrite Tikhon (Zaitsev) was appointed chairman of the revived Financial and Economic Administration of the Moscow Patriarchate, whom the Synod determined to be bishop of Podolsky, vicar of the Moscow diocese.
The functions of the Financial and Economic Administration, Bishop Tikhon described as follows:
The Financial and Economic Department has a lot of functions related to the internal life support of the Russian Orthodox Church. If you draw secular parallels, then, in fact, FHU is the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economics in one person. First of all, the FHU helps the Holy Patriarch and the Holy Synod to exercise the functions of managing the property of the Russian Orthodox Church. And with this are connected the issues of taxation and accounting, and the formation of the general church budget, and construction, and restoration, and much more. After all, we also have something like ... a budget process, but the model, of course, is not comparable with the secular. From the beginning of its existence, from the beginning of centuries, the Church has existed and exists on donations, so what plans can there be? Relatively speaking, there is no revenue plan, but there is a cost plan. And we try to organize their financing.
The well-being of the Orthodox Church rests not only on the considerable help of the state, the generosity of patrons and donations from the flock - the Russian Orthodox Church also has its own business. But where is the money spent, still a secret
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), Patriarch Kirill, spent half of February on long journeys. Negotiations with the pope in Cuba, Chile, Paraguay, Brazil, landing on the island of Waterloo near the Antarctic coast, where Russian polar explorers from Bellingshausen station live surrounded by papuan penguins.
To travel to Latin America, the patriarch and approximately one hundred escort people used the IL-96-300 aircraft with tail number RA-96018, which is operated by the Special Flight Unit "Russia". This airline is subordinate to the management of the affairs of the president and serves the top officials of the state ().
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill at the Russian Bellingshausen station on the island of Waterloo (Photo: Press Service of the Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church / TASS)
The authorities provide the head of the Russian Orthodox Church not only with air transport: the decree on the allocation of state protection to the patriarch was one of the first decisions of President Vladimir Putin. Three of the four residences - in Chisty Lane of Moscow, Danilov Monastery and Peredelkino - are provided to the church by the state.
However, the ROC’s revenue items are not limited to the help of the state and big business. The church itself has learned to earn.
RBC understood how the economy of the ROC works.
Layered cake
“From an economic point of view, the Russian Orthodox Church is a gigantic corporation uniting tens of thousands of independent or semi-independent agents under the same name. They are every parish, monastery, priest, ”wrote sociologist Nikolai Mitrokhin in his book“ The Russian Orthodox Church: Current State and Actual Problems ”.
Indeed, unlike many public organizations, each parish is registered as a separate legal entity and religious NGO. The income of the church for conducting ceremonies and ceremonies is not taxable, not taxed and the proceeds from the sale of religious literature and donations. At the end of each year, religious organizations draw up a declaration: according to the latest data provided by RBC to the Federal Tax Service, in 2014 the church's non-taxable income amounted to 5.6 billion rubles.
Mitrokhin estimated the entire annual income of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 2000s at approximately $ 500 million, while the church itself rarely and reluctantly speaks about its money. At the Council of Bishops in 1997, Patriarch Alexy II reported that the Russian Orthodox Church received the bulk of the money from "managing its temporarily available funds, placing them in deposit accounts, acquiring state short-term bonds" and other securities and from the income of commercial enterprises.
Three years later, Archbishop Clement in an interview with Kommersant-Dengi magazine for the first and last time will tell what the church economy is made up of: 5% of the patriarchy’s budget - deductions of dioceses, 40% - sponsorship donations, 55% of the earnings of commercial enterprises of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Now there are fewer sponsorship donations, and deductions from dioceses can make up a third or about half of the general church budget, explains Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, who until December 2015 headed the department for relations between the church and society.
Church property
The confidence of an ordinary Muscovite in the rapid growth in the number of new Orthodox churches around is not much contrary to the truth. Since 2009 alone, more than five thousand churches have been built and restored throughout the country — these figures were announced in early February by Patriarch Kirill at the Council of Bishops. These statistics included both churches built from scratch (mainly in Moscow; how this activity is financed -), and given by the Russian Orthodox Church according to the 2010 law “On the transfer of religious property to religious organizations”.
According to the document, the Federal Property Management Agency transfers objects to the Russian Orthodox Church in two ways - into ownership or under a contract for gratuitous use, explains Sergey Anoprienko, head of the department for the placement of federal authorities of the Federal Property Management Agency.
RBC conducted an analysis of documents on the websites of the territorial bodies of the Federal Property Management Agency - over the past four years, the Orthodox Church received more than 270 objects of property in 45 regions (unloading was carried out before January 27, 2016). The real estate area is indicated only in 45 objects - a total of about 55 thousand square meters. m. The largest object that has become the property of the church is the ensemble of the Trinity-Sergius Deserts.
The destroyed temple in the tract Kurilovo in the Shatursky district of Moscow region (Photo: Ilya Pitalev / TASS)
In case of transfer of real estate to ownership, Anoprienko explains, the parish receives a parcel of land. You can only build church premises on it - a utensil shop, a clergy house, a Sunday school, an almshouse, and so on. It is impossible to erect objects that can be used for economic purposes.
The Russian Orthodox Church received about 165 objects for free use, and about 100 in ownership, it follows from the data on the website of the Federal Property Management Agency. “No wonder,” Anoprienko explains. - The church chooses to use free of charge, since in this case it can use state funding and count on subsidies for the restoration and maintenance of churches from the authorities. If the property is owned, all responsibility will fall on the Russian Orthodox Church. ”
In 2015, the Federal Property Management Agency suggested that the Russian Orthodox Church take 1971 objects, but so far only 212 applications have been received, says Anoprienko. The head of the legal service of the Moscow Patriarchate, Mother Superior Ksenia (Chernega) is convinced that only destroyed buildings are given to churches. “When the law was discussed, we compromised, did not insist on restitution of property lost by the church. Now, as a rule, we are not offered a single normal building in large cities, but only ruined objects, which are expensive. We took a lot of destroyed churches in the 90s, and now, of course, we wanted to get something better, ”she says. The church, according to the abbess, will "fight for the necessary objects."
The most high-profile battle - for St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg
St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg (Photo: Alexander Roshchin / TASS)
In July 2015, Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga Barsanuphius appealed to the Governor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko with a request to give the famous Isaac for free use. This called into question the work of the museum located in the cathedral, there was a scandal - the media wrote about the transfer of the monument in the front pages, the petition demanding not to allow the transfer of the cathedral collected more than 85 thousand signatures on change.org.
In September, authorities decided to leave the cathedral on the city balance, however Nikolai Burov, director of the St. Isaac's Cathedral museum complex (includes three more cathedrals), is still waiting for a catch.
The complex does not receive money from the budget, 750 million rubles. he earns annual maintenance himself - on tickets, Burov is proud. According to him, the Russian Orthodox Church wants to open the cathedral only for worship, "jeopardizing the free visit" of the object.
“Everything continues in the spirit of the“ best Soviet ”traditions - the temple is used as a museum, the museum management behaves like real atheists!” - parries opponent Burov, Archpriest Alexander Pelin of the St. Petersburg diocese.
“Why does the museum dominate the temple? Everything should be the other way around - at first the temple, as it was originally conceived by our pious ancestors, ”the priest is indignant. The church, Pelin has no doubt, has the right to collect donations from visitors.
Budget money
“If the state contains you, you are closely connected with it, there are no options,” reflects the priest Alexei Uminsky, rector of the Trinity Church in Khokhlakh. The current church interacts too closely with the authorities, he believes. However, his views do not coincide with the opinion of the leadership of the patriarchy.
According to RBC estimates, in 2012-2015, the Russian Orthodox Church and its associated structures received at least 14 billion rubles from the budget and from state organizations. Moreover, only in the new version of the budget for 2016, 2.6 billion rubles are provided.
Near the trading house "Sofrino" on Prechistenka - one of the branches of the telecommunications company group "ASVT". Parkhaev also owned 10.7% of the company at least until 2009. The co-founder of the company (through ZAO Russdo) is the co-chair of the Union of Orthodox Women Anastasia Ositis, Irina Fedulova. ASVT's revenue for 2014 is over 436.7 million rubles, profit - 64 million rubles. Ositis, Fedulova and Parkhaev did not answer the questions for this article.
Parkhaev was listed as chairman of the board of directors and owner of Sofrino Bank (until 2006 it was called Old Bank). The Central Bank revoked the license of this financial organization in June 2014. Judging by the data from SPARK, the owners of the bank are Alemazh LLC, Stek-T LLC, Elbin-M LLC, Sian-M LLC and Mekona-M LLC. According to the Central Bank, the beneficiary of these companies is Dmitry Malyshev, the ex-chairman of the board of Sofrino Bank and a representative of the Moscow Patriarchate in government.
Immediately after renaming Old Bank into Sofrino, the Housing and Construction Company (HSC) company, established by Malyshev and partners, received several large contracts of the Russian Orthodox Church: in 2006, HBC won 36 tenders announced by the Ministry of Culture (formerly Roskultura) for restoration temples. The total volume of contracts is 60 million rubles.
Parkhaev’s biography from parhaev.com reports the following: he was born on June 19, 1941 in Moscow, worked as a turner at the Krasny Proletariy factory, came to work in the patriarchate in 1965, participated in the restoration of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, and enjoyed the location of Patriarch Pimen. Parkhaev’s activities are described not without picturesque details: “Evgeny Alekseevich provided the construction site with everything necessary,<…> solved all problems, and cars with sand, brick, cement, metal went to the construction site. ”
The energy of Parkhaev, an unknown biographer continues, is enough to manage, with the blessing of the patriarch, the Danilovskaya Hotel: “This is a modern and comfortable hotel, in the conference hall of which local cathedrals, religious and peace conferences, concerts are held. The hotel needed just such a leader: experienced and purposeful. "
The daily cost of a single Danilovskaya room with breakfast on weekdays is 6300 rubles, apartments - 13 thousand rubles, including a sauna, a bar, car rental and organization of holidays. The income of Danilovskaya in 2013 was 137.4 million rubles, in 2014 - 112 million rubles.
Parkhaev - a man from the team of Alexy II, who managed to prove his indispensability to Patriarch Kirill, I am sure the RBC interlocutor in the company producing church products. The permanent leader of Sofrino enjoys privileges that even prominent priests are deprived of, confirms the source of RBC in one of the major dioceses. In 2012, photos from the anniversary of Parkhaev got on the Internet - a holiday was celebrated with fanfare in the hall of church cathedrals of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. After that, the guests of the hero of the day on the boat went to Parkhaev's cottage in the suburbs. The photographs, the authenticity of which no one disputed, show an impressive cottage, a tennis court and a marina with boats.
From graveyards to t-shirts
The sphere of interests of the Russian Orthodox Church includes medicines, jewelry, rental of conference rooms, Vedomosti wrote, as well as agriculture and the funeral services market. According to the SPARK database, the patriarchy is a co-owner of the Orthodox Ritual Service CJSC: the company is now closed, but the subsidiary established by it is the Ritual Orthodox Service OJSC (revenue for 2014 is 58.4 million rubles).
The Yekaterinburg diocese owned the Granite large granite quarry and the Derzhava security company; the Vologda diocese had a plant for reinforced concrete products and structures. The Kemerovo Diocese is the 100% owner of LLC Kuzbass Investment and Construction Company, co-owner of Novokuznetsk Computer Center and the Europe Media Kuzbass agency.
There are several outlets in the Danilovsky Monastery in Moscow: the monastery shop and the Danilovsky Souvenir shop. You can buy church utensils, leather wallets, T-shirts with Orthodox prints, Orthodox literature. The monastery did not disclose financial indicators. On the territory of the Sretensky monastery there is a Sreteniy store and an Unholy Saints cafe, which was named in honor of the eponymous book of the rector, Bishop Tikhon (Shevkunov). The cafe, according to the bishop, "does not bring money." The main source of income for the monastery is the publishing house. The monastery owns the land in the agricultural community "Resurrection" (the former collective farm "Sunrise"; the main activity is the cultivation of cereals and legumes, livestock). Revenue for 2014 is 52.3 million rubles, profit is about 14 million rubles.
Finally, since 2012, the Russian Orthodox Church has owned the Universitetskaya Hotel in the south-west of Moscow. The cost of a standard single room is 3 thousand rubles. This hotel has the pilgrimage center of the Russian Orthodox Church. “There is a large hall in the Universitetskaya, you can hold conferences, resettle people who come to events. The hotel, of course, is cheap, very simple people live there, very rarely bishops, ”said Chapnin.
Church ticket office
Archpriest Chaplin could not realize his long-standing idea - the banking system, which excludes usurious interest. While Orthodox banking exists only in words, the patriarchate uses the services of the most ordinary banks.
Until recently, the church had accounts in three organizations - Ergobank, Vneshprombank and Peresvet Bank (the latter are also owned by the Russian Orthodox Church). Salaries of employees of the synodal department of the patriarchy, according to the source of RBC in the Russian Orthodox Church, were transferred to accounts in Sberbank and Promsvyazbank (the press services of the banks did not respond to the request of RBC; a source close to Promsvyazbank reported that the bank, including the ones holding the church funds parishes).
Ergobank served more than 60 Orthodox organizations and 18 dioceses, including the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and the Compound of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. In January, a license was revoked from the bank due to a “hole” found in its balance sheet.
The church agreed to open accounts in Ergobank because of one of its shareholders - Valery Meshalkin (about 20%), explains the interlocutor of RBC in the patriarchy. “Meshalkin is a church man, an Orthodox businessman, who helped temples a lot. It was believed that this is a guarantee that nothing will happen to the bank, ”the source describes.
Ergobank office in Moscow (Photo: Sharifulin Valery / TASS)
Valery Meshalkin is the owner of the construction and installation company Energomashkapital, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, the author of the book “The Influence of Mount Athos on the Monastic Traditions of Eastern Europe”. Meshalkin did not answer RBC questions. According to a source in RBC in Ergobank, they managed to withdraw money from the accounts of the Russian Orthodox Church before the revocation of the license.
In what turned out to be no less problematic, 1.5 billion rubles. ROC, told RBC a source at the bank and confirmed two interlocutors close to the patriarchate. In January, a license was also withdrawn from the bank. According to one of the interlocutors of RBC, the chairman of the bank Larisa Marcus was close to the patriarchy and its leadership, so the church chose this bank to store part of its money. According to RBC interlocutors, in addition to the patriarchy, funds in Vneshprombank were held by several funds that carried out the instructions of the patriarch. The largest is the Foundation of Saints Equal to the Apostles Constantine and Helena. A RBC source in the patriarchy said that the fund raised money to help victims of the conflicts in Syria and Donetsk. Information about fundraising is on the Internet.
The founders of the fund are Anastasia Ositis and Irina Fedulova, already mentioned in connection with the Russian Orthodox Church. In the past, at least until 2008, Ositis and Fedulova were shareholders of Vneshprombank.
However, the main bank of the church is Moscow Peresvet. As of December 1, 2015, funds of enterprises and organizations (85.8 billion rubles) and individuals (20.2 billion rubles) were placed on the bank accounts. Assets as of January 1 - 186 billion rubles., Of which more than half - loans to companies, bank profit - 2.5 billion rubles. On accounts of non-profit organizations - more than 3.2 billion rubles., It follows from the reports of "Relight".
The financial and economic management of the Russian Orthodox Church owns 36.5% of the bank, another 13.2% is owned by the Russian company Assistance LLC. Other owners include Vnukovo-invest LLC (1.7%). The office of this company is located at the same address as Assistance. An employee of Vnukovo-Invest was unable to explain to RBC correspondent whether there is a connection between his company and Assistance. In the office of "Assistance" phones do not answer.
Peresvet JSCB could cost up to 14 billion rubles, and the Russian Orthodox Church’s share of 49.7%, presumably up to 7 billion rubles, IFC Markets analyst Dmitry Lukashov calculated for RBC.
Investment and Innovation
About where the ROC funds are invested by banks, not much is known. But it is well known that the Russian Orthodox Church does not shy away from venture investments.
Peresvet invests in innovative projects through Sberinvest, in which the bank owns 18.8%. Funding for innovation is shared: 50% of the money comes from Sberinvest investors (including Peresvet), 50% from state-owned corporations and funds. Funds for projects co-financed by Sberinvest were found in the Russian Venture Company (the press service of RVC refused to name the amount of funds), the Skolkovo Fund (the fund invested 5 million rubles in development, the fund’s representative said) and the Rusnano state corporation (in Sberinvest's projects allocated $ 50 million, an employee of the press service said.
The press service of the state corporation RBC explained: in order to finance joint projects with Sberinvest in 2012, the international fund Nanoenergo was created. Rusnano and Peresvet invested $ 50 million in the fund.
In 2015, the Rusnano Capital S.A. Fund - a subsidiary of Rusnano - appealed to the District Court of Nicosia (Cyprus) with a request to recognize Peresvet Bank as co-defendant in a case of violation of an investment agreement. The statement of claim (available to RBC) states that the bank, in violation of procedures, transferred "$ 90 million from Nanoenergo accounts to the accounts of Russian companies affiliated with Sberinvest. The accounts of these companies were opened in Peresvet.
The court recognized Peresvet as one of the co-defendants. Representatives of Sberinvest and Rusnano confirmed to RBC the presence of litigation.
“This is all nonsense,” said Oleg Dyachenko, a member of the board of directors of Sberinvest, in a conversation with RBC. “With Rusnano, we have good energy projects, everything is going on, everything is moving - the composite pipe factory has completely entered the market, silicon dioxide is at a very high level, we process rice, we get heat, and we have reached an export position.” In response to the question of where the money went, the top manager laughs: “You see, I'm free. So, the money is not lost. " Dyachenko believes that the case will be closed.
The press service of "Peresvet" did not respond to repeated requests from RBC. The chairman of the bank Alexander Shvets did the same.
Income and expenses
“Since Soviet times, the church economy has been opaque,” \u200b\u200bexplains Rector Alexei Uminsky, “built on the principle of a household: parishioners give money for some kind of service, and nobody cares about how they are distributed. And the parish priests themselves do not know exactly what the money they have collected goes for. ”
Indeed, it is impossible to calculate church expenses: the Russian Orthodox Church does not announce tenders and does not appear on the government procurement website. In economic activity, the church, says Mother Superior Ksenia (Chernega), “does not hire contractors”, managing it on her own - the monasteries deliver the products, the workshops melt candles. Laminated cake is divided inside the Russian Orthodox Church.
"What does the church spend?" - he asks the abbess and answers: “Theological seminaries are kept throughout Russia, this is a rather large share of the costs.” The church also provides charitable assistance to orphans and other social institutions; all synodal departments are financed from the general church budget, she adds.
The Patriarchate did not provide RBC with data on expenditure items in its budget. In 2006, in the Foma magazine, Natalya Deryuzhkina, at that time an accountant of the patriarchy, estimated the costs of maintaining the Moscow and St. Petersburg Theological Seminaries at 60 million rubles. in year.
Such expenses are still relevant today, confirms Archpriest Chaplin. Still, the priest clarifies, you need to pay a salary to the secular staff of the patriarchate. In total, this is 200 people with an average salary of 40 thousand rubles. per month, says the source of RBC in the patriarchy.
These expenses are insignificant against the background of the annual deductions of dioceses to Moscow. What happens to all the rest of the money?
A few days after the scandalous resignation, Archpriest Chaplin opened a Facebook account, where he wrote: “Understanding anything, I consider the concealment of income and especially the expenses of the central church budget to be completely immoral. Not the slightest Christian excuse for such concealment can exist in principle. ”
There is no need to disclose the cost items of the Russian Orthodox Church, since it is absolutely clear what the church spends money on for church needs, the chairman of the synodal department for relations between the church and society and the media Vladimir Legoyda rebuked the RBC correspondent.
What do other churches live on?
It is not customary to publish reports on income and expenses of the church, regardless of religious affiliation.
Dioceses of Germany
The exception recently has been the Roman Catholic Church (RCC), which partially reveals income and expenses. So, the dioceses of Germany began to disclose their financial performance after the scandal with the bishop of Limburg, for which in 2010 they began to build a new residence. In 2010, the diocese estimated the work at € 5.5 million, but three years later, the cost almost doubled to € 9.85 million. In order to avoid claims in the press, many dioceses began to disclose budgets. According to reports, the budget of the dioceses of the RCC consists of property income, donations, and church tax, which is levied on parishioners. According to 2014 data, the diocese of Cologne became the richest (its income is € 772 million, tax revenues are € 589 million). According to the plan for 2015, the total expenditure of the diocese was estimated at 800 million.
Vatican Bank
Now published and data on financial transactions of the Institute of Religious Affairs (IOR, Istituto per le Opere di Religione), better known as the Bank of the Vatican. The bank was established in 1942 to manage the financial resources of the Holy See. The Vatican Bank published its first financial report in 2013. According to the report, in 2012 the bank’s profit amounted to € 86.6 million, a year earlier - € 20.3 million. Net interest income amounted to € 52.25 million, income from trading activities - € 51.1 million.
Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCOR)
Unlike the Catholic dioceses, reports on the income and expenses of the ROCA are not published. According to Archpriest Peter Kholodny, a long time former treasurer of the ROCA, the economy of a foreign church is simple: the parishes pay royalties to the dioceses of the ROCA, and they transfer money to the Synod. The percentage of annual deductions for parishes is 10%, 5% are transferred from dioceses to the Synod. The wealthiest dioceses are in Australia, Canada, Germany, and the USA.
The main income of the ROCA, according to Kholodny, comes from renting a four-story Synod building: it is located in upper Manhattan, at the corner of Park Avenue and 93rd Street. Building area - 4 thousand square meters. m, 80% is occupied by the Synod, the rest is for rent to a private school. The annual rental income, according to estimates of Kholodny, is about $ 500 thousand.
In addition, the Kursk Root Icon (located in the Znamensky Cathedral of the ROCA in New York) brings ROCOR income. The icon is carried around the world, donations go to the budget of a foreign church, explains Kholodny. The ROCOR Synod also owns a candle factory near New York. He does not transfer money to the Moscow Patriarchate of the ROCOR: “Our church is much poorer than the Russian one. Although we own incredibly valuable plots of land - in particular, half of the Garden of Gethsemane - it does not monetize. ”
With the participation of Tatyana Aleshkina, Julia Titova, Svetlana Bocharova, Georgy Makarenko, Irina Malkova
Dear Vladimir Iosifovich! Dear Vladimir Vasilievich! Dear fathers! Brothers and sisters! I welcome you to our section “New Temples for the City of Moscow” as part of the XXIV International Educational Christmas Readings.
Today, January 26, in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the conference "Construction of Orthodox Churches: Traditions and the Present" was held, which was organized by the Financial and Economic Department of the Russian Orthodox Church as part of the XXIV International Christmas Educational Readings.
The conference was co-chaired by Metropolitan Mark Ryazansky and Mikhailovsky, Chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Support for the Construction of Moscow Churches; IN AND. Resin, deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation; V.V. Chernikov, head of the Department of National Policy, Interregional Relations and Tourism of Moscow.
Recall, in the framework of the Christmas Readings, Metropolitan Mark of Ryazan and Mikhailovsky, Chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church, curator of the Program for the Construction of Orthodox Churches in Moscow, heads
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We bring to your attention the Report of the Chairman of the Financial and Economic Administration of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Mark Ryazansky and Mikhailovsky:
Dear Vladimir Iosifovich! Dear Vladimir Vasilievich!
Dear fathers! Brothers and sisters!
I welcome you to our section “New Temples for the City of Moscow” as part of the XXIV International Educational Christmas Readings.
The most urgent and burning topic of today, of course, is the economic crisis. We always hear from experts about the economic downturn, about the numerous threats associated with it, and we see in our Program that large organizations that have expressed a desire to take an active part in the construction of churches do not always have the opportunity to fulfill their obligations.
However, after analyzing the results of the implementation of the Program for 2015, we can say with confidence: in all respects we managed to do more, and in some areas - much more than in 2014.
LAND
More land was registered: by the end of 2015, 166 land plots were registered, for comparison: in 2014, only 143 were registered.
Previously, contracts were drawn up for 2 years, but now - for 9 years. ( We also renewed the "old" expired contracts for 9 years).
Another important news: In 2015 we registered the first constructed complex with a church as a property of the parish All-Merciful Savior in Mitino. (We handed over the object, registered ownership of the FHU: a temple, a parish house and land, and then transferred it to the ownership of the parish).
Directly in the ownership of the parish (bypassing the FHU) in 2015, another temple was issued - The Beheadings of the Head of John the Baptist in Brateevo (Klyuchevaya St., 18A). (The parish has yet to draw up land).
FINANCING
Despite the crisis and the difficulties faced by Russian companies and ordinary citizens, the amount of donations for the construction of churches that went through the FHU, compared to 2014, almost doubled.
Direct donations made up an even larger amount. That is, when during the year the benefactors donated directly to the parishes for the design and construction of temple complexes, without the participation of the FHU ( and money and work).
I would like to express special gratitude for the serious contribution to the common good cause of the revival of the spiritual and cultural heritage of the capital on behalf of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox inhabitants of the city to the following companies: OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel;CJSC Novatek; CJSC Inteko; LLC Polytechstroy; GC "Tashir"; Concern Krost; LLC Agrofirm Kosino;
LLC Seven Development;LLC Rioteks; philanthropists in Khodynkaandto donors matrona Moscow Church.
CONSTRUCTION
In 2015, we not only started construction on 11 temple complexes, but also challenged long-term construction.
This year we managed to practically complete 7 objects, work on which began back in 2012. These are the Vvedensky Church on Ketscherskaya, the Church of Education on Volskaya, the Temple of Tatiana of Rome on Krasnodar, Alexy of Moscow (Mechev) on Veshnyakovskaya and Alexander Nevsky in Aleksanrovka (Zelenograd). Two of these seven complexes were commissioned: the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius on Melnikov and St. Spyridon at the Shipbuilding.
TOTAL, according to our Program, at the end of 2015, 22 (19 plus 3) churches were built, 8 completed the main construction and installation works, 34 (26 plus 8) churches were built.
GREAT LIGHTING
HOWEVER, the current completion of the construction of the temple is not the receipt of documents for putting the object into operation, which, of course, is very important. The true crown of all the works of architects, builders, icon painters is the great consecration of the temple - the House of God.
AND 2015 brought the program long-awaited results. His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill made a schedule of the great consecration of the built churches. That is, churches on which the basic construction and installation works, external and internal decoration are completed, heat and electricity are supplied, iconostases are installed and regular services are performed.
Already in spring, the Holy plans to consecrate several churches.
Last year, a momentous event took place for our Program.
December 13, 2015, on the day of the celebration of the memory of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called, His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Cyril performed the order of the great consecration of the church in honor of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Methodius and Cyril, Slovenian teachers, on Melnikov Street, ow. 7, and then led the ministry of the Divine Liturgy.
This temple in honor of the Enlighteners of Russia was laid down by the first in our Program on April 29, 2011, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin (in memory of the victims of the Dubrovka terrorist attack). And this day was the official birthday of the Program.
That is, today we are talking not only about the construction of churches, but also about the intermediate results of the entire Program.
TENDERS
And, of course, when speaking about the outcome of the Program, we must remember the role of the individual in history, and in our case, the role of the personality of the abbot in the Temple Construction Program.
The success of temple building, of course, largely depends on the activity of the abbot. This year, the rector of the parish of St. Sergius of Radonezh on Khodynka, Archpriest Vasily Biksey, can be called the best temple-builder. From the most difficult situation, he emerged victorious and erected the temple almost under the dome.
I would also like to note the works of the rectors of the temples under construction: Alexander Nevsky in Zelenograd priest Maxim Kazakov; Church of Seraphim of Sarov in Kozhukhovo Archpriest Alexy Vorobyov; Church of St. Savva Consecrated in Lublin Priest George Ivanov; Church of the Presentation of the Lord on Saransk Archpriest Dimitry Arzumanov; Church of St. Nicholas of Myra in Biryulyovo Archpriest Vitaly Togubitsky; the church of all the reverend fathers of Kiev-Pechersk in Old Cheryomushki archpriest Alexy Petukhov; Church of the Prophet of God Elijah hieromonk Onesimus (Bumblebee).
It is very important that the abbots at each stage of all work: design and construction, adhere to a clear algorithm of actions developed over four years. The maximum attention should be paid to: 1) the need for coordination with designers of places for the construction of temporary temples, taking into account the existing communications and planting of the main temple; 2) without fail to coordinate the beginning of work with local authorities; 3) monitor the cleanliness of the sites, etc.
In 2015, in order to better organize the interaction of all participants in the Program, His Holiness the Patriarch appointed in each vicariate a person responsible for the construction of churches.
DESIGN
Back in 2014, we announced the need to diversify the palette of projects of our Program. We talked about the harmony and conciseness of forms, about the modernity of architecture, about the functionality of the internal space of new churches and the economical maintenance of built complexes. And if in 2014 the process of developing and searching for good relevant projects was just launched, and the rectors often turned to standard projects, then in 2015 the vast majority of projects for which documentation was developed for further construction had already become individual.
In addition, due to the difficult economic situation, special attention was paid to new projects of low-budget temples. One of them, worth only 50 million rubles for all civil works, is being built today at the parish of Serafim Sarovsky in Kozhukhovo.
So the crisis is a crisis, and our task is to further develop the temple-building business entrusted to us by His Holiness the Patriarch and not be afraid of difficulties.
In July, from Mosproject-2 to the Moscow Arbitration Court received nine lawsuits against the financial and economic department of the Russian Orthodox Church. The total amount of claims is more than 6.9 million rubles (for two claims the amount is not indicated). As Mossproekt-2 deputy general director for economics and finance Oles Bobkova told Life, all claims were brought for unpaid design work of churches.
- These are not the last claims, they refuse to pay. According to the "200 Temples" program, we did a number of projects. Some are completed and paid, and some are not only designed, churches are already standing, but there is no money. Long persuasions and trips to the Bishop in the Patriarchate did not yield results. Repeatedly letters arrived asking simply to donate to them and that they would not pay for the work done, ”says Bobkova.
At the same time, according to her, the ROC “Mosproject-2” cannot give work for several million rubles out of greed: you must report to the tax office on the receipt of funds under already concluded contracts, where cancellation of the contract can be considered fraud.
- I am a believer, but for me this [financial and economic management of the Russian Orthodox Church] is simply a legal entity. But I can’t forgive debts in order to prevent losses of the enterprise - this is my job, - Bobkova feels awkward.
To say exactly how many temple projects have remained unpaid and how much she refuses is a commercial secret.
- A lot of them. On Akademika Millionshchikova street, on Yurovskaya, Dezhnev passage (there is both a temple and a clergy house), on Barclay (there is already a temple there), on Marshal Savitsky. Next is Krasnodar, Melnikova, Ukhtomskaya, Mozhayskoye shosse, possession 54. There are a lot of them, says Bobkova.
At the same time, according to her, projects of temples were made for the minimum amount - at cost.
- Only the estimated cost of work on collections, according to standards, was taken into account. This amount is ridiculous for such work: 364, 200, 70 thousand rubles. These are not millions, we do not profit from the Patriarchate. I don’t know why they do this, ”Bobkova shrugs.
Why the ROC refuses to pay, remains unknown to us. According to statistics from the Federal Tax Service, the income of the Russian Orthodox Church does not dare to be called modest.
For example, last year the church earned 1.79 billion rubles from "performing ceremonies and ceremonies", as well as from "selling religious literature and religious objects". And the amount of donations from citizens and organizations "to conduct statutory activities" amounted to another 4.03 billion rubles. In addition, the Russian Orthodox Church receives money from the state as part of federal programs related to the development of spiritual and educational centers, the preservation and restoration of churches. In the budget for this year, 2.6 billion rubles were allocated for the church.
The proceeds of the Moscow City Temple Support Support Fund, which finances the construction of the 200 Temples program, are not presented in open sources. The founder of the fund is the financial and economic department of the Russian Orthodox Church, which, according to the SPARK database, completed 2015 with 77 million rubles of net profit (96.5 million profit minus 19 million profit tax).
The financial and economic management of the Russian Orthodox Church did not respond to the request of Life. It was not possible to reach the chairman of the synodal department for relations between the church, society and the media.
This is not the first story when the Russian Orthodox Church refuses to pay its debts. So, in February-March 2015, the Research and Design Institute of Urban Planning and System Design (GSP) filed six claims with the ROC’s financial and economic department for a total of 29.7 million rubles. After six months of proceedings in all claims, the proceedings were canceled: the parties agreed to conclude amicable agreements. According to them, the Russian Orthodox Church undertook to pay its debts for a month, and the designers refused to recover a penalty for late payment. It was not possible to discuss the situation with the representatives of the SRPP GSP.
In the spring of 2015, the construction company "Legat-Stroy" was also suing the financial and economic department of the Russian Orthodox Church. As a result, the Moscow arbitration court decided to satisfy the claim in full (7,925,877 rubles for construction work and 62,629 state duties), and the ninth arbitration court of appeal upheld the decision.
“They threw dozens of organizations for money,” said Andrey Nikishin, CEO of Legat-Stroy.
Having built a church in honor of the Holy Martyr Tatiana of Rome on Krasnodar Street, his company, like Mosproekt-2 now, was confronted by the ROC’s unwillingness to pay and an offer to make a donation.
- Initially, we began to work even before the conclusion of the contract, on trust. Only after a year of work could they be forced to sign an agreement under the threat that we would demolish everything. Then they refused to pay, the newspapers and television said that we were benefactors, although this was not so. So I had to go to court. We are also lucky that we have signed a contract, many organizations fail to do this - they are thrown, and you can’t even sue them, ”says Nikishin.
Nikishin was really lucky - because now the courts allow the Russian Orthodox Church to pay not only with money, but also with services. So, at the end of last year in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, the arbitration court allowed the local diocese to return part of the debt to the contractor who established the boiler room with prayers.
The company was supposed to receive almost a million rubles, but only 458 thousand were paid to it. The decision was made in the framework of a settlement agreement. According to the document, the diocese was supposed to pay the organization another 200 thousand rubles, and also pledged to "offer prayers for the health of the servant of God Arsenyev Ivan Mikhailovich and the servant of God Lepustin Sergey Alexandrovich, their families and well-being in all their good deeds and undertakings" for the rest of the debt .
